


Quadrivium

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: Trope Bingo Round Twelve [16]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Camp Nanowrimo, Feudalism, Gen, Timey-Wimey, Trope Bingo Round 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 01:06:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19188793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: Orion Pax inherits a house from his great-uncle, Alpha Trion. The only proviso is that he has to spend a night alone in the house to claim his inheritance. It's just an odd request from an eccentric mech, until the doors in the house start opening to places Orion doesn’t expect.





	Quadrivium

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Trope Bingo](https://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org) [Round 12](https://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org/tag/round+twelve). Prompt: AU: Historical, and Camp Nanowrimo April 2019.
> 
> Inspired by [this prompt](https://promptuarium.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/a-house-filled-with-doors/) from Promptuarium: "Your eccentric great-uncle recently died and left you his estate, which includes a rather large house filled with doors that don't always lead where you expect."

Orion Pax had only met his great uncle the Grand Duke Alpha Trion once, at his creator's funeral. The old mech had only had time to offer sympathy and a vague and kind of odd prediction about Orion's future. Then, Orion's sator had urged him to go check on something with the priest caring for the offerings and Orion hadn't had a chance to speak with the elderly lord again.

Still, though their contact had been brief Orion was saddened to hear of the older mech's passing several meta-cycles after that of his creator. Saddened, and also surprised because that news was not the only information the messenger brought. While the hereditary title and lands had gone to Orion's cousin Ultra Magnus, Alpha Trion had left Orion a property he'd held independently. The only caveat was that Orion must spend a night alone in the house there within a meta-cycle and a mega-cycle of receiving the message before he could inherit. Otherwise, ownership would revert to Ultra Magnus.

Orion wasn't materialistic and didn't have a great deal of interest in the property. He probably wouldn't have gone, except his friends Ariel and Dion urged him to at least go and see it. It wouldn't hurt, they said, and if Orion didn't like the place, it could be sold or rented out for extra income. That seemed reasonable, his family could use the money, and he secretly loved the idea of having a bit of an adventure. So, he agreed and made ready to set off.

The messenger, a chatty young mech named Bluestreak, had stayed a few days in Orion's hometown so he could escort Orion in the event Orion agreed to accept the inheritance. Apparently, GPS and even ordinary magnetic compasses couldn't be trusted in the area, but Bluestreak had been there before and knew how to read the landmarks. In fact, Orion got a complete run-down on what he could expect at the property, the nearest town, several towns nearby, and what Bluestreak thought of them all. Bluestreak talked a lot but it wasn't difficult to listen to, and Orion quickly learned when he could slip in a comment or a question without accidentally interrupting.

The property was two mega-cycles' travel away, and the Grand Duke's principal residence was on the way. Orion sent a comm to Ultra Magnus asking if they might be able to visit, and got permission for himself and Bluestreak to spend the night there.

Ultra Magnus had been a little closer to Alpha Trion than Orion had been and talked a bit about the old mech while they relaxed together in Magnus's perfectly organized sitting room that evening. Bluestreak, who was good friends with Magnus's seneschal Prowl, was visiting with him.

"He was a good lord," Magnus said solemnly, "and a good mech. It's unfortunate that you weren't able to know him."

"I only met him once," Orion admitted. "I was surprised to be remembered in his will."

"Perhaps it's simply that he hadn't many relatives," Magnus suggested. "I know he was close to your creator at one time, that could also be why he chose you."

"Maybe," Orion agreed cautiously. "Was that something Alpha Trion would've done?"

"Alpha Trion's thought processes were sometimes difficult for me to understand," Magnus confessed. "He didn't always come to conclusions linearly, and some of the things he said were…" Ultra Magnus hesitated and finally concluded, "strange."

"Did he ever say anything about the house he left me?" Orion wanted to know.

"I know it's called Quadrivium, but that's all. He didn't talk about it much."

That wasn't what Orion had been hoping for, but that couldn't be helped. After all, it wasn't as if they could go back in time and talk to the Grand Duke. Orion and Magnus's conversation drifted to other things and a few cycles later, they said good-night.

The morning was clear and sunny, perfect for driving, but as they approached Quadrivium acid rain clouds began to threaten. Orion hoped they'd hold off until they got into the house, at least, but there was no question but that it would rain later tonight. Once that started, Orion would be trapped in the house no matter what. The only problem was he had to stay there alone and where would that leave Bluestreak?

' _I guess you see the acid rain clouds,_ ' Bluestreak commed him. ' _The storm is probably going to hit this evening, are you going to be okay in the house on your own? I don't think it leaks – it shouldn't leak – so you should be but I know I wouldn't like to be all alone in a big strange house by myself._ '

' _I'll be alright, thanks,_ ' Orion told him. ' _I'm more worried about you._ ' He supposed he could always stay the night with Bluestreak, decide if he really wanted the property, and then try a night solo later. He had just under a meta-cycle to complete the requirements outlined in Alpha Trion's will, after all. The only question was when he'd be able to do that. He'd barely been able to take this time away from his family's shipping business as it was.

' _Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Orion,_ ' Bluestreak said. ' _The groundskeeper here is a good friend of mine, and I'm going to stay with him. Unless you don't want me to because – big strange house by yourself and all that. I really don't mind, and I know Hound – that's the groundskeeper – will understand if I tell him._ '

' _I'll be okay,_ ' Orion repeated, reassured. ' _I can make it through one night._ ' It would be a lonely night, though. He'd never recharged anywhere that didn't have at least one other mech behind a nearby wall. Still, how much difference could there be between being alone in a room and being alone in a house?

Quite a bit, as Orion was soon to discover. Even if he'd never done so, there was comfort in knowing that someone was just beyond the wall, just behind the door or down the hall if you needed them. Being alone, with the sound of the acid rain beating down on the shutters protecting the empty house against it, was different from anything the young mech had ever known. He'd thought he'd explore the house then get a good night's sleep, but it was impossible. The house was large, dark, and cold even though the environmental controls insisted they were functioning correctly. The temperature should have been optimal but either the displays were wrong, or Orion's own systems were. He only looked into a couple of rooms before he decided to head back to the one he had chosen to recharge in that night and stay there till morning when he could leave.

The first door he tried, the one he'd been sure led back to the main hall, led to a long, dark, hallway, with flickering lights inset at regular intervals. He couldn't see the end. That was…strange. Orion had a rough outline of the house in his head, and he would have sworn this hallway couldn't fit here, that it was too long. He told himself he must be more tired than he thought, shut the door, and tried another one. That one led to the back courtyard – only, the courtyard should have been covered in acid rainfall, and it wasn't. Frowning, Orion sought out a window that overlooked the back of the house and saw that it was, yes, still raining.

Something very, very strange was going on here.

Orion tried to map the hallway he'd seen onto the outline of the house's layout he'd built wandering through it. It didn't work. True, Orion only had the basic mapping package but, somehow, he didn't think that was the issue.  Putting his right hand on the wall, he chose a path that should have taken him back, at least, to the library. Instead, what should have been the library door showed him a group of mecha in armour that was _almost_ but not quite contemporary. They were standing on a vast plain, bare except for the lines they were carving into the living metal – Patterners? But how, and why, was he seeing this? Orion reached through the doorway, felt fresh, dry, air on his fingers, even a light breeze. If it were a simulation, it was a higher-quality one than any he'd ever heard of.

Unnerved, Orion stepped back and quietly closed the door. He stood still for a few kliks running a systems check for hallucinogens or other contaminants. Where he would have ingested them he didn't know but what other explanation could there be?

The check came back clean. Orion debated comming Bluestreak, seeing if the other mech were affected the same way, but he felt strangely reluctant to do so. Alpha Trion had left this house to Orion, provided he met the requirement in the will, and Orion felt there had been a purpose behind his choice. He couldn't explain it but it was right for him to be here and there had to be an explanation behind what he was seeing. Somewhere. The library was one of the most logical places, along with Alpha Trion's study upstairs, and Orion decided to check that first – provided he could find it, of course. Methodically, he opened the next door.

A strange planet with a blue sky, lots of green organic…things emerging from the ground. Mecha, their armour different and heavier than what he knew, spoke to a group of small bipedal aliens. One mech, oddly familiar to Orion amid the strange scene, stood at least head and shoulders taller than the rest. They lifted their head and – and _looked_ at Orion. Not just in his direction, _at_ him, meeting his optics and even though they wore a battle mask, he knew they smiled.

Orion shut that door slowly.

The next door, on the opposite side of the hall, opened again onto Cybertron but a Cybertron without the carvings of the Patterners visible anywhere. It was night, and the sky was clear of clouds, but Orion didn't recognize any of the constellations, as if the stars were in different positions. Another group of mecha – more massive than the mecha in the last group, all save one larger than any Orion had ever seen save in representations of…of the…

Orion counted again. Yes. Thirteen. None of them looked in his direction, but the one known simply as Thirteen gave him a feeling of deep familiarity. Not just that he knew them from his history books, but he _knew_ them. It was like picking up a book and knowing you'd read it before but not remembering where, or when, or the details of the plot but knowing that you'd recognize more of it as you read – but he didn't feel sure he'd be allowed to read this book.

Reluctantly, Orion shut the door.

The next door he opened, on the same side of the hall as the door leading to the Thirteen, showed him to Alpha Trion's study, with the old mech seated at a large, ornate desk with many datapads and pieces of writing foil covering it in neat piles.

"Ah," his great-uncle said, looking up at him with a lack of surprise. "Orion Pax. I see you've come to claim your inheritance, nephew. Come in, come in."

Orion took a step over the threshold. Nothing happened, and he approached his great-uncle carefully.

"Very good." Alpha Trion smiled. "I'm sure you have questions."

"Yes. This – this is the past, isn't it?" There was a chair in front of the desk on his side but Orion hose to stand instead, resting his hands on the desktop. "And some of the doors back there led to the past as well."

A lithograph on the wall behind Alpha Trion caught Orion's attention. It was a plan of the house, and it showed the hallway as having once been longer. It had been shortened at some point when the entry hall was deepened.

"Yes," Alpha Trion said simply, "and others to the future – possible futures, at least. It isn't always a meaningful or dramatic moment, of course."

"The courtyard," Orion remembered, "without the rain. And, that alien world – is that one significant?"

"Oh, it is most significant. Most significant, indeed. But I cannot tell you _why_. The 'why's and 'wherefore's are permitted only to the keeper of this place," Alpha Trion told him, "and you have not yet decided if that will be you."

"But – " Orion frowned. "Wouldn't you know if I had? In one of the futures?"

"I do not control the future," the ancient mech informed him. "What is shown in the present is not always the future that comes to pass. The past is set, the future in motion. There is a future where you have agreed and a future where you have not agreed. They exist simultaneously until you, Orion Pax, choose."

"What happens if I agree?" Orion wanted to know.

"You inherit the manor and all that comes with it," his great-uncle replied simply, "and you reside here and look after the Quadrivium until you find someone to pass it on to."

"Until I die," Orion murmured.

"Not necessarily. Only until you find one who is worthy to succeed you – as I know you will." Alpha Trion smiled. "You have a great destiny before you, Orion Pax, greater than you know, and this is but one more stop along the road you have been driving for a very long time."

"I think I've seen a couple of those stops. Or at least," Orion corrected himself, "one stop and one potential one."

"Perhaps you have." Alpha Trion sat, looking at him for a moment. "While I regret that I must once again say good-bye, you can only remain in the past for so long and the time for our discussion is almost up."

Orion knew a dismissal when he heard one. "I suppose – this is the last time we'll see each other? At least for a while." He couldn't explain why he said that. It was like knowing Thirteen; he simply knew he'd see Alpha Trion again.

"Just so." Genuine warmth entered his great-uncle's optics. "Farewell, Orion Pax. I look forward to our next encounter."

"Farewell, Uncle."

As Orion opened the door to leave, Alpha Trion called out to him one last time. "Orion. You did not ask what happens if you do not agree to be Quadrivium's guardian."

Orion paused in the doorway, looking back and smiling. "I don't think that's a question I need to bother asking, Uncle."

**Author's Note:**

> Quadrivium: Crossroads. [Source](https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=la&tl=en&text=quadrivium)


End file.
